Cylcing Class-Good or Bad for losing weight in thighs?

believe1922
believe1922 Posts: 59 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm having trouble losing weight from my hips and thighs, taking a cycling class 2-3x per week not sure if cycling is going to help slim my hips and thighs or make them bigger due to muscle gain? What is the best workout for losing weight in hips and thighs?

Replies

  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Targeted weight loss doesn't work. Your body will lose fat from wherever it wants to, just as it placed it where it wanted to. There is nothing you can do about it, short of liposuction. Just keep reducing bodyfat, and they will eventually go down as well.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    If anything, you are asking those muscles to do the big carb burns that traditional spin class does, really intense. Very little fat burned.

    Big carb burns teaches the body you need more stored carbs - in the muscles used - in the places you want smaller.

    Carbs store with water, and that means both weight and measurement increase.

    At least though, you can only store so much in the muscle, so once it goes max it stops, but get ready for increase.

    You will get NO muscle gain from spin class either. In fact if too intense too frequently and you don't eat enough, you have better likelihood of burning off some muscle you'd probably rather keep. At least 2 - 3 x a week isn't bad.

    But you'd be better served doing it 1x a week and doing full body heavy-for-you lifting routines. That'll burn the fat. Just don't do that spin class day before or after lifting, it'll ruin the effect of lifting heavy.
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
    i am trying to cut 1" from my thigh circumference too...so i get what you're saying. unfortunately, heybales^^ is right. you've got to ease up on the cardio. when i was doing a lot of cardio, it only made me want to eat more carb-y foods...like bread, rice, potatoes, pasta. i'd end up bingeing on carbs. and if you're like me, carbs go straight to my thighs. i shouldn't even bother eating them. i should just glue them or slap them right onto my legs.

    stick to weight training and lifting heavy. i've switched out most of my cardio for full body strength training sessions 3x a week. i no longer have those carb binges and i feel stronger all together. i haven't lost any inches off my thighs but i've gained some definition in other parts of my body. i'm praying that my body decides to shed some fat soon...and hopefully that fat will be off my thighs but we'll see. the body is going to do what it's going to do. but that's not going to stop me from working hard. i've seen some crazy body transformations on MFP! so i think anything is possible.
  • meitawdjj
    meitawdjj Posts: 6
    i have the same problem as yours, big thighs and hips. based on my experiece joining 3 cycling classes regulary for the past 4 years made my thighs bigger due to muscle gain.
    the best way to lose fat in those body parts is doing squat and running :) happy workout
  • fatboyruss
    fatboyruss Posts: 33 Member
    Spot reduction doesn't work. Best advice is the addition of resistance training to your routine (others have said this proviously so I may as well say "what they said")
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    I'm going to respectfully disagree. Even at high intensity after so-called glucose depletion, the percent fat being utilized does drop down to 30-35%, but total fat is being burned at rates higher than low intensity.

    Depending on the spin class workout you will get some muscle gain. Higher resistance, low cadence certainly builds both strength and muscles, just not as well as weight lifting. Do not spin like a hamster on crack. This will only make your as s hurt.

    The rest of heybales post seems correct to me.

    At the most basic, if you want to lose weight in thighs, you need to just lose weight. There is no specific program that works on one area. To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. Cardio exercise, like spin class, can help create that deficit. To have a toned look, in your legs and glutes, spinning is one good way to work the area (mountain biking is better, squats and other lifting routines are also more efficient).
  • michellersalo
    michellersalo Posts: 60 Member
    I'm going to respectfully disagree. Even at high intensity after so-called glucose depletion, the percent fat being utilized does drop down to 30-35%, but total fat is being burned at rates higher than low intensity.

    Depending on the spin class workout you will get some muscle gain. Higher resistance, low cadence certainly builds both strength and muscles, just not as well as weight lifting. Do not spin like a hamster on crack. This will only make your as s hurt.

    At the most basic, if you want to lose weight in thighs, you need to just lose weight. There is no specific program that works on one area. To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. Cardio exercise, like spin class, can help create that deficit. To have a toned look, in your legs and glutes, spinning is one good way to work the area (mountain biking is better, squats and other lifting routines are also more efficient).

    YES!! This is correct! :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'm going to respectfully disagree. Even at high intensity after so-called glucose depletion, the percent fat being utilized does drop down to 30-35%, but total fat is being burned at rates higher than low intensity.

    Depending on the spin class workout you will get some muscle gain. Higher resistance, low cadence certainly builds both strength and muscles, just not as well as weight lifting. Do not spin like a hamster on crack. This will only make your as s hurt.

    The rest of heybales post seems correct to me.

    At the most basic, if you want to lose weight in thighs, you need to just lose weight. There is no specific program that works on one area. To lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. Cardio exercise, like spin class, can help create that deficit. To have a toned look, in your legs and glutes, spinning is one good way to work the area (mountain biking is better, squats and other lifting routines are also more efficient).

    While very true that higher intensity will burn about the same quantity of fat though smaller %, the comment was about carb usage and the effects on the body.
    That bigger % of carbs, and more of them being burnt, is what I was referring to.

    If your body is getting depleted from carbs from new workouts, it will increase storage of that glucose, with water.

    This topic didn't seem to be on the myth of fat-burning zoning being best, so wasn't even touching on that.

    As to actually building muscle while doing endurance type workouts, and 45 min high intensity is that kind of workout. You'd have to follow a strict regimen of interval actually, with proper recovery, to actually build muscles.
    Runners and cyclist can get stronger and use their muscle better or longer, without getting more of it.
    Intervals, basically weight lifting for given sport, with proper recovery, is way to actually build muscle. If the deficit is minor.
    Typical spin class has incorrect intervals, shoot, the Spinning website is stuck back in the '80's with their info and missing out on current studies.

    And actually, our spin classes try to have you up around your lactate threshold, about 10% fat burned. There intervals are never done correctly.

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